Saturday, June 16, 2012

Recommended Apps for Kids

Several of my clients' parents have been asking for a list of apps for the iPad. Here is a list of a few that I recommend, most of which are free:


My Current Favorite: Young Music Genius - learn about instruments and composers, play instrument game where you hear an instrument and guess from 4 choices which you hear; play memory game of instruments by picture and sound - make matches like the traditional memory game; composer quiz - listen to a piece of music and guess from 4 choices who the composer is

1. Dr. Seuss Band - improvise music, play songs by matching the colors
2. Piano Dust Buster - play songs by following the "germs"; the better you do the more songs are unlocked
3. Kids Place ABC first words - learn to spell musical instruments - spell names of instruments
4. Musical Flash Cards - hear instrument name and its sound
5. Music Instruments - a book of music instruments, listen to sound and name of different instruments
6. Discover Musical Instruments Free - hear sounds of instruments
7. Mini Adventures Music - instruments a to z; most of them unique instruments from around the world
8. Music Notes - learn about whole, half, quarter, eighth, sixteenth, and thirty-second notes
9. Rhythms Cat Lite HD - learn to read basic rhythmic patterns; a little bit of a challenge!
10. Guitar Free - improvise on the virtual guitar or learn songs
11. Xylophone! HD - improvise on the virtual xylophone
12. iGlockenspiel - improvise on the virtual xylophone; record your song and play it back or email it
13. Virtuoso - improvise on the piano; split the screen and get two keyboards so you can play with a friend!
14. Abby - Simon Says: Musical Instruments - play a take on the original simon game by listening to the instruments and playing back what you hear; "tap on what you've heard in the correct order"
15. Music School for Toddlers - try out different instruments; piano is free, then pay $0.99 for others
16. What Is It? - shows a picture and asks, "What Is It?" click on the image to hear and see the name of the object and its sound; demo in free version, pay per category $1.99; music instrument category available
17. Vocal Zoo - see pictures of animals and hear their name and sound
18. ABC - Magnetic Alphabet - just like fridge magnets; good for spelling words; free for alphabet, unlock more magnets of objects
19. DoodleBuddy - draw with your finger, change color, medium, use stamps, use blank screen or use a picture from your photo library
20. Feel Electric! - from the Electric Company, learning about emotions through games
21. Tap to Talk Starter Album - great for nonverbal kids or kids with beginning speech; touch the picture to "verbalize" what you want to say
22. Music Tutor Free - for students studying piano or other instrument; practice identifying notes on the staff, treble, bass, or treble and bass
23. Master in a Minute (free) - for students studying piano; note recognition, harmonic intervals, melodic intervals
24. Jigsaw Puzzle Maker for iPad - make a jigsaw puzzle out of your own photos
25. Best Sand Timer - visual timer; change color of the sand
26. VisTimerFree - 5 minute visual timer; change color; unlock to change number of minutes
27. Singing Fingers - amazing! use your finger to draw and make a sound as you draw; trace the lines and hear your sound back
28. Fun Rhyming - rhyming words
29. MicPro - record yourself singing or playing music

For a Fee:
Morton Subotnick's Pitch Painter - create music by finger painting; variety of musical instrumental sounds and authentic scale tunings from around the world